making news in america this morning. >> united front. will the u.s. and russia team up to face down a nuclear iran? and as leaders move on to the g-20 summit, which one is threatening to walk out? libya's leader at the u.n. for the first time. complaining about jet lag. and even calling president obama his son. and the first to go. a career on the dance floor doesn't last long, as two stars get their walking papers. it's thursday, september get their walking papers. it's thursday, september 24th, 2009. captions paid for by abc, inc. and good morning. i'm eric horng, in for jeremy hubbard. >> and i'm vinita hire. president obama's week of high-level diplomacy is far from over. >> this afternoon, he'll work to right the global economy. >> john hendren has all the details from washington. john, certainly another very busy day for the president. >> reporter: it is, indeed, vinita and eric. today, president obama goes from one gathering of world leaders

to another. from the u.n. in new york, to a meeting of world financial leaders in pittsburgh. today, president obama warns heads of state of the growing peril of nuclear proliferation. >> if we fail to act, we will invite nuclear arms races in every region. and the prospect of wars and acts of terror on a scale that we can hardly imagine. >> reporter: the president, the first-ever to chair the united nations security council, met with president medvedev, buoys, after he said sanctions with iran might be inevitable. >> serious sanctions remain a possibility. >> reporter: the american delegation walked out after mahmoud ahmadinejadook the podium. later, obama meets with the leaders of the g-20 nations. >> this would be the first time the ball is really in obama's court. >> reporter: the financial leaders gathering in pittsburgh, plan to grapple with the aftermath of the worst global downturn in generations. >> what to do with an exit in

licies. and whether all of us carry on with fiscal stimulus or when we exit and on what conditions. >> reporter: they'll be greeted by protesters, already gathering outside, demanding action to curb climate change. inside, president obama faces pressure from french president nicolas sarkozy, who plans to walk out. and for union leaders who want deeper emissions cuts. well, as john mentioned, iran's president ahmadinejad, sat the u.n., along with other top critics. libya's moammar gadhafi, and hugo chavez. here's dan harris. >> reporter: dressed in flowing, brown robes, moammar gadhafi took to the podium today with his first-ever u.n. speech.

with apparently a lot to get off his chest. reading from handwritten notes, on scraps of paper, he started by calling president obama a son of africa. and even, my son. then, alleged that the h1n1 flu virus had been created by an unnamed military. manhandled a copy of the u.n. charter. and suggested the u.n. headquarters should beoved so he and others could avoid jet lag. during his speech today, there were plenty of reminders why gadhafi is so controversial. he defended the taliban and if somali pirates. and implicated the israelis in the assassination of jfk. after 1 hour and 35 minutes, and 2, exhausted interpreters, gadhafi finally relented. while gadhafi created a stir, the man who created the most serious concern in the white house and new york city, is iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad.

thousandcame to the u.n. to condemn the recent, allegedly rigged elections in iran. and the brutal crackdown that followed. you're saying he shouldn't be allowed to speak? >> no. >> reporter: dan harris, abc news, new york. when ahmadinejad did take the podium last night, the u.s. delegation was among those who walked out in protest. he continued his original tirade against the u.s. and israel. he did speak in a more conciliatory tone. saying iran is, quote, prepared to warmly shake all those hands, which are honestly extended to us. previewing his speech later today, venezuela's usually combative leader, hugo chavez, had slightly positive feedback for president obama. chavez said, the arrival of president obama, who can deny it, generates, has generated, and will continue to generate big expectations. he called then-president bush the devil.

the fbi is investigating the death of a part-time census worker, found hanging from a tree in kentucky. the word "fed," reportedly was scrawled on the chest of bill sparkman, who was also a substitute teacher. his body was found earlier this month in the daniel boone national forest. a co-workers at the johnson elementary school said he had warned sparkman to be careful when working for the census. this morning, the governor of massachusetts plans to name an interim successor to the late senator edward kennedy. governor duval patrick, got the go ahead from the state legislature yesterday. but has to wait 90 days for the bill to take effect. instd, patrick is declaring an emergency. former alaska governor, sarah palin, has given her first overseas speech since leaving office. palin spoke to about 1,000 investors and bankers gathered at a conference in hong kong. those attending said the former vice presidential candidate appeared more moderate. did not attack president obama. and avoided major gaffes.

some say palin is laying the ground work for a presidential run in 2012. an exciting discovery from nasa. there's water on the moon. satellites orbiting the moon have detected large amounts of ice in the lunar soil, billions of gallons worth. that's good news for nasa's goal of future space colonies on the moon. exciting information. now, it's time for a look at this morning's weather from around the nation. considerable rain stretches north from texas, to iowa and along the rockies, with snow in higher elevations. thunderstorm from the ohio valley, to virginia. but atlanta will be dry today. it will be sunny and hot in the southwest. breezy and warm in the northeast. >> new yorkers will bask in a high of 84 degrees today. the upper 70s in boston, indianapolis, and st. louis. a high of 90 is expected in new orleans and miami. 100 in phoenix. a chilly 56 degrees in colorado springs. and coming up from us, a major announcement overnight.

an aids vaccine with promising results. something many researchers thought was impossible. across the south, receding waters. but a new problem. thousands of homeowners with no flood insurance. and taking the stand. john travolta, testifies about his late son for the first time.

the federal serve says a recovery is under way. after leaving a key interest rate locked at historic lows,

the fed says economic activity has picked up, citing a stabilization in consumer spending. encouraged by the recovery, the fed decided to slow down its program intended to prop up the housing market. mortgage rates are expected to remain low. despite those bullish remarks, stocks fell yesterday. the dow fell 81 points, closing at 9748. the nasdaq lost nearly 15 points to close at 2131. markets we opened in japan, after a holiday. with tokyo's nikkei average climbing 1.7% today. hong kong's hang seng is lower. and in london, the ftse opened lower. the senate banking committee is holding a hearing on the $700 billion bank bailout. in prepared remarks, the program's government watchdog will say it's extremely unlikely that taxpayers will recoup all the money. several banks have repaid the bailouts with interest. but full recovery to assistance to aig, automakers and mortgage modification programs remains

uncertain. wells fargo didn't take long to follow the bank of america or jpmorgan chase. customers at wells fargo and wachovia will not be charged with they overdraw an account by $5 or less. and they can opt out of overdraft coverage. boeing is looking to get in the aerospace business. the aerospace giant is looking to take astronauts and even tourists into space. the company is working with nasa to build a transportation system to the international space station and other desations. in today's "new york times" tech report, hewlett-packard adds apes to the video frame. it has widgets that pull photos from facebook, lets you listen to radio, play videos and check the weather. "the new york times" sam grobart says, it's a good idea, but still needs improvements. >> it has a very pretty user interface. it's unfortunately rather

clunky, though. it looks great. but it's hard to use. the other big problem is, although it can download widgets, it can only download the ones that hp has made, which number about, oh, a don. >> you can read a full review of the hp dreamscreen on "the new york times" website. up ahead on this thursday, the flooding cleanup begins in the south. but will the federal government provide much-needed aid. and dancing dreams dashed. and two celebrities britie.

we continue, now, with a look at the road conditions you can expect for your morning commute. heavy rain, at times, along interstates 80, 10, 40 and 44, as well as interstate 70 and 25 in colorado. wed roads could slow i-95 in georgia and florida. >> if you're flying today,

expect airport delays in denver, kansas city, st. louis, memphis, houston, cincinnati, charlotte and washington, d.c. georgia residents returning to their homes are being warned to be careful, as they wade through oodwaters. not only because of submerged hazards. but because there could be contamination of sewage and other waste. >> abc's t.j. winick reports from georgia. >> reporter: as the floodwaters recede in georgia, they reveal a muddy mess. bill put all of his furniture up on paint buckets. >> we did everything we could and we thought we were doing right. we have never seen anything like that. >> reporter: it's the human loss that's taken a real toll. the floods are being blamed for ten deaths across the southeast. one drowning victim was a mother of two, driving home from the night shift, when her minivan was being swept away. she called 911. >> my car is turning down. now, the wheel is getting up. and i'm going to drown.

>> listen to me. you're not going to drown. >> it's taking me down now. >> it's taking you down? just stay on the phone. i'm going to stay with you. >> reporter: metro atlanta students were back in class. but this veterinary was closed again. >> the school's been there 50 years or more. it's very special for the kids in the neighborhood. >> reporter: most of the roads and freeways, swamped just a short time ago, have reopened, including a busy stretch of interstate 20 in atlanta. stressed-out bridges remain a concern. the popular peach tree dunwoody bridge will be closed for repairs. >> if you were to have a heavy vehicle travel over, you have a good chance of bringing the bridge down. >> reporter: health experts are telling all residents to treat the floodwater as if it's contaminated. t.j. winick, abc news, athell, georgia. >> the governor is asking president obama to make

emergency assistance available for georgia. hundreds of investigators have returned to the same new york city neighborhood, where a terror plot raid was carried out last week. they are reinterviewing people already questioned in queens. meantime, the man at the center of the investigation, najibullah zazi, is due back in court in denver. zazi and his father are charged with lying to government agents. murdered grad student, annie le, is being remembered as bright, vivacious and ambitious. le's body was found on the day she was supposed to be married. a lab technician has been charged with her murder. there could be a major breakthrough this morning in the fight against aids. researchers in the u.s. and thailand say, for the first time, a vaccine has cut the risk of getting aids by almost one-third. results came after the largest trial ever of an aids vaccine. 16,000 volunteers in thailand

took part. researchers say they're not sure why this drug works, when others did not. after john travolta is telling how he tried to save his son. he is testifying in the trial of the bahamas of two people trying to extort money from him. travta said he tried to give his son jett mouth-to-mouth recess station. one of the accused is a paramedic who responded to the emergency call at the family's vacation home. a new single from michael jackson is expected to zoom to the top of the charts when it's released next month. the song's title is "this is it," the name of the concert tour jackson was rehearsing when he died. time, now, for sports highlights from espn news. >> good morning. we hd to the diamond in the n.l. wild card race. starting off with the rockies. leading the n.l. wild card. taking on the padres. big game for will vennible. towering sojo home run.

his 12th of the year. he struck again in the fifth. this time, the bases loaded, two outs. and he delivers. will venable tie it with two rbis. giants trying to chase down the rockies in the wild card. and jonathan sanchez on the mound, against mark reynolds. reynolds, recently set the major league record for strikeouts in a season. again. in the sixth, juan uribe, 14th home run of the year. giants up 3-0. sanchez gets mark reynolds here in the sixth. sanchez struck out 9 in 51 slrs 3. phyllis and marlins. phils closing in on the n.l. east title. ryan howard made some history. four-straight, over 130 arb seasons. but brad lidge couldn't hold it. on to close the door in the

ninth. jorge cantu brings home ross road. brad lidge blows his seventh save of the year. next, brad carol. his first career walkoff hit. florida's 4 1/2 out in the wild card. that will do it from here. now, bk to you in new york. it's that time of year again. the latest quest for the mirrorball trophy has begun. not who everyone bedistricted. ashley hamilton, actor george hamilton's son was eliminated. >> he had a great tan. also gone is singer macy gray, who will have to take solace in the 20 million record albums she sold. tom delay survived, despite underwhelming the judges by doing the cha-cha, while singing "wild thing." >> the rest of the season, we can see more air guitar and rump-shaking from delay. >> perhaps. a long way to gon this competition. >> always fun to watch.

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edward kennedy. there is speculation he will appoint paul g. kirk jr. the fbi is investigating the death of a census worker, in kentucky, who was found hanging from a tree. it's a federal crime to harm federal workers on the job. it's the talk of the medical world this morning. results of a major trial of an experiment aids vaccine shows it will cut the rate of infection by almost one-third. scientists aren't sure why it works. a wildfire in southern california now covers 25-square miles. containmtsn't expected for several days. coming up later on "good morning america," an abc news hidden camera investigation. u.s. border guards paid to look the other day. we'll turn to pierre thomas for answers. that's coming up on "gma." óóó

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you may have heard of the book or the movie called "into the wild." it's the story of an merge college student who went to alaska. tried to live off the land and died alone in the wilderness. >> now, nick watt tells us the story of a man who tried to recapture the feeling, while in the wilds of canada. >> my name is ed bordell. i spent the summer, trying to

survive completely alone, in the far north of canada. far from anyone or any place. it was a boyhood dream for me. >> reporter: the plan, three months, totally alone in the yukon wilderness. home to 17,000 bears. eating what he can kill. >> now, that is my dinner tonight. >> reporter: living off the land. ed wardell filmed himself. >> look at this. >> reporter: for a national geographic show called "alone in the wild." >> did you see that? that's brilliant. >> reporter: finding food was tough. by law, he wasn't allowed to hunt moose or even ducks. >> beautiful. i've never seen one before. >> reporter: filming was tough. for the camera, wardell was forced to confront his pair, pain and longings. in every day, he was wested to

the limit. he lost 28 pounds. slowly starving to death. >> the for me was probably calling in and saying, that's it. i i've had enough. i need to get out. >> reporter: that moment came after 50 days. wardell was air lifted from his dream by flyg boat. emotional return to civilization. >> i really don't know why i've been crying so much. it has something to do with being alone. i managed to do something extraordinary. i lived alone in the wild for 50 days. i really am happy that i did that. >> reporter: nick watt, abc news, london. and stay with us for "good morning america." coming up at 7:00. >> and for updates anytime, check out our website, abcnews.com. have a great morning. and as always, thanks for watching "america this mor people are dropping like people are dropping like flies. flies.